Health Freedom organizations
National Health Freedom Coalition
http://www.nationalhealthfreedom.org/
Founded by attorney Diane Miller who led the Minnesota campaign that started the “health freedom act” movement
American Association for Health Freedom
http://www.apma.net/aahf/default.asp
Wynn Werner of the New Mexico Complementary and Alternative Medicine Project just introduced me to the American Association for Health Freedom. Like what I see on the website but haven’t dug in deep enough to provide a great summary of the association’s work or make any judgment about its effectiveness. (5.1.06 correction: Came across notes today from several years back. Turns out Diane Miller introduced me to this organization then and had let that slip my mind.)
Coalition for Natural Health
http://www.naturalhealth.org/index.shtml
Founded in the mid-’90s to counter restrictive licensing laws that the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians’ lobbying groups were pushing state by state and which were putting trained naturopaths and nutritionists out of business. I was a charter member and remained active in it during my stint on the East Coast. Have been less-so since. Funny. I think the AANP docs SHOULD be licensed to practice in every state. I just think they should be licensed as Integrative Medical Doctors or Naturopathic Medical Doctors and should not feel threatened by traditional naturopathic doctors and counselors. The Coalition has actively lobbied to protect alternative health practitioners whenever restrictive laws have been proposed. Good organization.
National Health Federation
(This one has been around since 1955 and I find it a bit tainted by some of its past militancy. Has a lot of good resources, does some good work, but I’m not sure how influential it is in 2006 with the politicians who spend our money and make our laws.)
http://www.thenhf.com
Following two are consumer focused:
Citizens for Health
http://www.citizens.org/
Free to join. Health freedom alerts by email. Online directory of supplementation information by health condition, directory of health co-ops and health food stores, more. Lobbies Congress for health freedom.
The Dietary Supplement Education Alliance ™
http://www.supplementinfo.org/about.asp”
(DSEA ™) is an ambitious partnership created to promote the responsible use of vitamins, minerals, herbs and specialty supplements. … Currently funded by the contributions of industry trade associations and individual companies with technical assistance and in-kind support provided by several scientific and educational organizations.” Founded 2001.
